Page 26 of Lucky Haven

My heart hammers in my throat as he rolls himself free and jumps to his feet. Without saying a word, he grabs a rag and jerks his head for me to follow him into the office.

I close the door behind us as he wipes off his hands.

“I got another email,” I say, and my voice isn’t steady at all.

He reads it quickly, his nostrils flaring. “This came from someone at New Harvest, yeah?”

“I think so. I didn’t read it.” I suck in a sharp breath. “Did you hear about the Concerned Citizens for Community Standards initiative?”

He snorts. “No. The church crew? They’re always on about something. Is that what they’re calling it now?”

“It came up at the last town meeting. Mercy took me. Promised it would be fun and then it got weird.”

“Weird how?”

“It was, um, pointedly about Hope and Zane, and citizens concerned about⁠—”

“Community standards. Got it. What the fuck? Who brought them up?”

“Brian Pelley, but I think my uncle put him up to it. Dr. Tailfeathers protested, said he was misrepresenting what happened. And then Jeb smoothed it over and twisted it into something else that felt…”

“Gross? Personal?” Cash crushes the email printout. “I’ll kill him.”

“You can’t.” Panic flutters in my throat. “Please, don’t get into trouble over this.”

I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself for that. I think about the room nodding along and I feel sick all over again at how quickly they could all turn on Cash.

Cash’s jaw flexes. “How many emails is this?”

“I think this is the fourth one. I didn’t delete this one.”

“Good.” He smoothes it out and hands it over. “I know it’s hard to read, but I need to know if you recognize the voice of the writer.”

“You think it’s Jeb?” My hands shake as I scan the words. There’s a typo in the first line that jumps out.

I know your a fraud

And you know it too

I saw you at the meeting, you felt shame (and you should)

You aren’t what this community wants, and you should leave

Well. That’s direct. I swallow hard, then shake my head. “I don’t know. If it’s him, he’s trying hard to sound stupid.”

Cash laughs, low and unexpected. “Yeah, he sounds like a fucking idiot. But he is⁠—”

“I’m not disagreeing, but he’s an idiot with a graduate degree in divinity. He definitely knows how to use punctuation and spell check.”

“You should ask the IT department to pull the other emails from the backup files.”

I wince at the thought of making a big deal.

Cash goes to lift my chin, his greasy finger right in front of my face, then he growls an apology. “Sorry, I’m all dirty. But I need you to look at me.”

I look at him.

He smiles as a reward. “Someone is getting really fucking close to making a direct threat. Tracing the threads before they do that is just smart, and your employer will want you to do that. And if they don’t⁠—”